ACT IV, Scene 1

X
glanced around the area as he reformed from the transport.Snow was bombarding the white landscape.X hadn't expected such a blizzard in the
middle of the day.The lightness of the
sun made it look less intense, but the storm was pretty severe.Not that he cared – he was waterproof and
cold didn't affect him.X held his hand
in front of his eyes to block out the snow searing at him and oriented himself.He looked for the rock cave he knew was close
by.

X spotted it some hundred meters
away, a black maw waiting for a meal.He
started the long trudging path up to it, running in the powdery snow, jumping
the crevasses in his way.He was eager
to escape the storm bearing down on him and gladly slogged through the
entrance.The blanket of chill lifted
off as the shelter of the dimly illuminated cavern closed in.In a short time he met a cliff and started
climbing up the jagged slope.Using his
traction stabilization system made the climbing a lot easier, plus he had dug
out the stones for handholds.He peeked
his head over the top of the snow-covered bluff and saw the machine, strangely
out of place in the dark rock tunnel.

It didn't strike X as odd for a
console projector standing in the middle of a frozen cave because he had seen
it so many times before.He hoisted
himself above the rock face and approached the machine with a slight smile on
his face.X's face lit up as the
terminal control function turned on.Hitting some more buttons, X looked up at the circular platform attached
to the terminal, waiting for action.

The capsule's circumference filled
out in a teal holographic curtain.The
blue color wiped away to reveal a hologram of a kind-faced short scientist with
a thick white beard.X could only assume
it was white due to the bluescale color of the image.

"Hello, Dr. Light," X
smiled.

"Hello again, X.It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you
too."

"X, this capsule is no longer
capable of upgrading your system."

"I know, I know.I just... need someone to talk to right
now."

"X..."

"It's just... all my friends
are acting so weird around me now.Everyone's suddenly become...Well, Zero.Zero just acted crazy
around me.I mean, I know..." X
took a deep breath."Okay, here's
what happened.I accidentally shot Zero
and, granted, I would be somewhat angry with that too.And I would have apologized to him sooner,
but I was under house arrest and couldn't see him.And he knows that it was an accident, but he
just won't... get that.He just came in,
he wanted to see my Z-saber, and I couldn't find it.And I still can't find it."X said that last line as an aside."Why does he want to see my saber so
bad?It's not like he needs it.It was a gift from him to me in the heat of
battle.But it's not like his existence
depended on it.It seemed so random for
him to ask for it, just out of the blue like that.He just crazed out, like he had a personality
error.Maybe he thinks I'm going against
him by shooting him, but I apologized to him.He just doesn't understand that I didn't mean it.So is that just normal?Does he feel like I betrayed him?"X looked up to Dr. Light with innocent eyes.

"X, I'm only a holographic
representation of Dr. Light.I don't
have the cognitive functions to process these questions.I was only created to offer you
upgrades."

"I know, I know, but... forget
it."X turned around and sat in the
cold snow, exasperated."I just
need some answers.I want some answers
and I can't get them because you're dead."X tucked his chin into his body."Why was I even created?You
created me for a world of peace but my existence just seems to cause nothing
but conflict."

The Dr. Light hologram watched X
from his immovable stance, a seemingly sad expression on his face."X, if I was capable of giving you
advice, I would tell you that your friends, if they truly are your friends,
will forgive you for any trespasses you may have committed."

"So what should I do?"

"I cannot process that
question.But I think you know what you
need to do."

"No, I don't, I really
don't."

"I'm afraid I can't help you
anymore than that X."

"I know. You weren't designed
with cognitive functions, blah blah blah."X stepped up to the console again."Goodbye, father."

"Goodbye, X."

"I'll see you again."X switched the emitter off and watched the
form of Dr. Light wipe away to nothingness.

X turned away and stared out into
the mouth of the tunnel, gazing at nothing."Zero..." he muttered."What am I going to do with you?"

"Is that what you think?"

"What?"

"About this, the
paranoia."

"I do not recall what the
psychological term is, but there is something in humans that makes them scared
of what they are.For example, a worker
who watches others for stealing may be a kleptomaniac himself."

"So you're saying X is paranoid
about Mavericks because he is a Maverick.That's just speculation.And
you're using a human illustration.Reploids
aren't humans."

"We are all more human than you
realize.Reploid A.I. passes the Turing
Test with flying colors.It's no wonder
they are subject to human fallacies.X
is the first of us, the prototype.Prototypes always have flaws in their systems.Likely, that's where the start of the
Maverick virus lies, some flaw in his programming.The information is there, you just need to
think about it."

"X being a Maverick is not so
hard to think about.A Maverick may
still be a Maverick even if it makes no harmful action against humans or
Maverick Hunters."

"I guess that's true."

"And it is no crime if X hates
humans yet still does his job."

"I- it..."

"For example, X's weapon is his
to do with as he wants, right?Off
hours?It's not yours anymore, you gave
it to him."

"Janus-"

"Perhaps he wishes to write a
manifesto denouncing the human race.He's not a Maverick then, is he?"

"Janus!Stop it!"Zero grabbed hold of Janus' shoulders and
faced him toward himself. "If you know that X has become a Maverick then
just tell me that.Don't give me a run
around!"

Janus did not look fazed from being
shook by Zero."I do know one thing
he said."

"What?"Zero's expression dropped.

"Or rather, bore witness to his
confession of what he did."

"By all things held sacred, what
did he say?"

Janus took a deep breath."He told me that he had killed."

"Killed... a man?"

"Man, woman, who is to
say?"

Zero let go of Janus' shoulders and
held onto his own head.His eyes
narrowed, almost crossing. "Man, woman, human.Killed. He killed a human.He's MA-A-A-AV-ERI-ICK!"Zero's voice faltered, jerking and vibrating
like a stream delay.Janus stepped back
in surprise.

Zero spun around and swung his fist
into the nearby wall.The metal wrenched
apart giving way to a fist.Zero dragged
his arm through the wall, creating the horrendous screeching of cold metal
tearing through metal.Even Janus winced
for what surely had to be gut-wrenchingly painful, yet Zero's rage precluded
any sort of physical feeling.Zero's
eyes pallored ghostly white as he fell to all fours, trembling as if from a
seizure.

Janus walked around Zero's shaking
form.The crimson android had no
consciousness around him, all thought processes had been hung.So Janus had no fear of anything he might do.He was as helpless as a baby.The gray reploid sneered."That's right..."

"Zero!"Dr. Cain shouted from the other end of the
hallway being escorted by several reploid soldiers.

"Get a repair kit.Save him," Cain demanded.The reploids deployed, one ran back out of
the hall, the others flipped the seizing Zero onto his back, avoiding his flailing
limbs.Janus stepped back to let them
by.They held down his body to try and
suppress his movements, but it took all their strength to stop him from
bursting out.

Dr. Cain quickly hobbled over to the
gray reploid."Janus, what in
blazes happened here?"His face was
a mixture of rage and apprehension.

"A system error?I'm afraid I'm as clueless as you are."

"I've never seen anything like
this in a reploid before."Cain
leaned forward slightly over Zero's vibrating body.His eyes were shut now, as if in the chains
of a nightmare."Is it some sort of
mechanical failure?"

A soldier reploid broke through the
group, holding a portable computer.He
flipped the box open and pulled out two retractable jacks.These he plugged into Zero's helmet.Cain looked over the reploid soldier's
shoulder as the black and green monitor speedily scrolled through lines of
code.

"System scan commencing,"
he said.

"A memory fault... there,"
Cain pointed.

"Zero!" X called out as he
turned the corner.He ran down to the
collected mass around Zero's fallen body.Janus sprang up and held him back.

"No, X, it's better if you give
them room.They've already found the
fault and they're fixing it."

"What happened?"

"He started shaking
uncontrollably and fell to the floor.It's best if the problem works itself out."

"No way.I'm not going to abandon him now."

"There's nothing you can do for
him, X.Just stay out of the way.Go to my quarters.I'll meet you there and give you a report."

"But... but..."

"It's the best thing you can do
for him now, believe me."

X looked over Janus' head at
Zero.The uniformed reploids were
totally covering him.X couldn't even
see his body now.He looked back to
Janus, putting his trust him in, hoping the sincerity on his face was
genuine.X reluctantly nodded and walked
away.

As soon as he was out of viewing
range Janus jogged back to the fray."What's happen-"

Zero sat up like a spring, eyes wide
open.He grunted in pain and held his
hand up to the wires sticking out of his helmet.He yanked the jacks out of his head and threw
them on the floor.

"Ow, what happened?"

"You had some sort of memory
fault," Dr. Cain responded."Apparently it's fixed itself.Didn't even have a chance to start diagnosing it."

"I don't remember
anything.The last thing I remember is
talking with Janus about something.Whatever it was, it must not have had time to save to my resolved
memory."

"I've never seen anything like
this before," Cain said."Do
you feel all right now?"

"Yeah, I feel like nothing ever
happened."

"My word, this is
odd."Cain put a finger to his
lips."Well, I don't know what else
to do.Perhaps you should make a trip to
the diagnostic chamber,"

"I will when I get a
chance."Zero rubbed the back of
his head.

"Well, all right
then."Cain thought the situation
demanded more of his time, but he really couldn't think of anything else to
do."Come along, men."Cain whisked his green and red cape.The soldier with the diagnostic computer
snapped it shut and stood up and the reploids walked away behind their human
commander.

"Cain can't know about X.It would destroy him and his work.It would expel him from his job, and MHHQ
would be undone without his guidance.He's already under constant fire for discovering X in the first place,
possibly bringing the Maverick virus upon us.And he's the only one who would prevent the military from making us the
humans' disposable soldiers.Now tell
me, did he truly confess it."

"X?Sir, you've just had an episode of
sorts.Are you sure you wouldn't lie
down or something?"Janus began
subserviently brushing off Zero's chest plate.Zero grabbed his hand sharply.

"Lying down is for humans.Answer me."

Janus looked down and sighed."I can do better than that, sir.You can see it for yourself."

Janus pulled Zero into a nearby
computer room.The lab was dark and
abandoned of people.Janus used the
nearest console to access his personal files, skimming through code and
accessing programs.He quickly brought
up a video feed of his living quarters.

"Stay here a moment, I will
return."

Janus left the computer room,
leaving Zero to his own devices.He
could not stay staring at the computer screen for more than five seconds before
he began wandering around the table in the middle of the room, idly punching
his fist into his other hand.One
couldn't begin to count all the thought processes in his head, but they were
all subdued by anticipation.

Not long later, Janus' visage
blipped onto the video screen, filling the monitor space.Zero practically dashed to the console.

"Zero?"

"I'm here."

"I sent X to my room so that I
could draw the confession out for you to witness.I'll set up a video comm connection between
him and me.I'm sending you an encrypted
spectator stream so that you can listen in on what X is saying.You'll be able to see him, but he won't see
you."

"All right," Zero looked
upon the screen with emotionlessness.

"I will talk with him about his
hatred of humans, watch for his returns."

The video player moved to a blank
screen, the dim light casting a looming glow to Zero's furrowed features.He watched and waited, never moving at all,
trapped in a state of patience.

Janus, from his position in the next
room, hurriedly set up the system for a video connection down to his quarters,
plus a second read-only stream on the client side.He did not want to waste a minute of time,
lest Zero's anger start to fault.The
programs connected and Janus was treated to a view of his room by way of his
console.

"X?X, are you there?"

The hero with the blue helmet
quickly made it to the screen."Finally.What are you doing
on the screen?"

Zero was taken aback, thinking that
he was supposed to be just a spectator, that X wouldn't be able to see
him.Then Janus piped through.

"Calm
down, X.Zero just had a bit of a
spill.They're still making some
repairs, but he'll be fine.He had a
memory fault, but it seems to be all fixed now."

"Fixed?A memory fault?How did that happen?"

Zero heard all of X's responses, but
none of Janus'.It was like hearing half
a conversation.

"Janus,
I'm not getting anything from you," he said as if Janus could hear
him.Zero cranked the volume on the
monitor up, but only heard the hissing feedback.

X continued, "Why do they have
to be so foolish?Can't they figure out
what his problem is?"

"Alas, the humans could not
find the problem before it disappeared.Do you think it could be the work of Mavericks?"

"Mavericks?Ergh," X rubbed his face with his
head."First, I'm arrested, then
Zero falls under.What kind of weird
world do I live in?Everything's falling
apart."

"If not Mavericks, then could
it be humans?"

"Humans?Why would they betray their protectors, especially
their finest?"

"Well, General Brandle did
attempt to strip Zero of his rank.""General Brandle isn't
worth the ground he walks on.The humans
made a mistake when they instated him."

Zero
heard the words 'human' and 'mistake' as X's temper rose.The stoic reploid sat in the chair and
watched the rest unfold.

"Are you saying that the humans
should be removed?"

"No," X denied
vehemently."But the military
presence should.They should all be
eradicated from MHHQ.They have no place
here."

Zero's brow furrowed further.

"Indeed, General Brandle
certainly stabbed his own comrade in the back and received no discipline for
it."

"Stabbed?More like gutted and sliced."X made a motion of plunging a knife into a
person's back and slicing it out.

"It does make one desire to
have the humans removed from HQ, doesn't it."

"I
just want them out of my life.I wish
things could go back to the way they were, without people breathing down my
neck.When did this all start, Janus?My reputation, tarnished.Zero's furious with me."

"In truth, I cannot say.Such things have a way of snowballing."

X sighed."Where's Zero now?"

"Ah, the doctor said that he
should rest in the diagnostic chamber.He may be there now."

X waved his hand dismissedly. "I won't bother him then."X leaned back in the chair and sighed."He needs his rest.Ah, Janus, you might be my only friend left
in the world.At least you're the only
one I can trust. "

"I strive to please you,
sir."

"Good night."

"Good night, sir."

Mega Man X's face disappeared as the
connection closed.Zero had his hands
clasped in front of him, still watching the video feed, despite there being
nothing more than a blank monitor.Zero's eyes coldly stared at the screen, not even watching it, seeing
past it, never moving.

The doors parted open and Janus
slowly stepped in, behind him was Duplex, casting his bright yellow sheen.

"Did you see it?" Janus
asked.

"I saw it." Zero
interrupted angrily.

"Did you see hear how he mocked
humans.How he demanded they be
eradicated?"

"I said, I saw it!"
he screamed.

Janus bowed his head in
deference.

"There is just one more piece
of evidence you must see," Janus gestured to Duplex to come forward.

"I don't care.I don't want to see it."Zero shut his eyes and shook his head.

"You must, sir."

The gold reploid did his best to act
as subordinate as possible and held up a metal rod, resting it lightly on his
fingertips like it was sacred.

Zero opened his eyes and picked it
up.He held it outward at eye
level.It was caked in brown, dried
blood.

"My saber... X's saber."

With his head still bowed, Janus
said, "There is a log that states X transported out of here at 2300
hours.We found his saber then.You may have heard about the unsolved murder
in the city.The blood tested pos-"

"Shut up!" Zero
shouted."I see it," he
muttered.He lowered the saber slowly
and looked directly into Janus' eyes.All the thought processes running in his head condensed down to one
single declarative concept"X must
be destroyed.And I'll be the one to do
it."

"What?" Duplex
yelped.

"Sir, please try to think this
over.X has given years of loyal
service-"

"And it's all meant
nothing.When I became a Maverick Hunter
I swore a duty to destroy all Mavericks wherever they are, no matter what.Now there's one in our midst and it must be
destroyed."

"But X-"

"X will rust and rot.I will kill him nine times over.I will see to it."

"Try to think of how X might
feel.What X might be going
through.To be the first of us-"

"Mavericks don't feel.That's their exact flaw.Is there some reason you're trying to
discourage me?Do you think Mavericks
should not be destroyed?Are you siding
with X?"

"Never, sir," Janus said
astonishedly."I would never side
with X."

"Good, you will be my
witness.I will have X's head.I'll gut him with the very weapon he betrayed
me with."Zero turned the Z-saber
on and a beam of green light extended out.He held it out in battle stance.

"Sir, please, control yourself."Janus pushed Zero's arms down."Such a brutal death is not fitting for
X, he's too decorated for that.Nor
should the authorities handle him.There
is no honor in a death brought by trials and laws.Let him die a gentle death.At least give him that."

Zero kept his arms upright, gripping
tightly to the rod.

"For all those years of
friendship?" Janus continued.

Zero looked down at his saber."Fine, X deserves at least that."

"When X is next scheduled for
diagnostics.You may do it then."

Zero doused his saber.The green beam shrunk and dissipated.

"What in bleeding hell is
this?!"Zero practically jumped on
the table where X and another hunter were sitting.

"Zero?Uh, what's wrong?"X said.The other hunter remained speechless and flabbergasted, mouth hung in a
tight 'o'.

"I'm being sent to Eurasia!The space
colony!They're making me commander of
the Maverick Hunters in Eurasia.I just got the message.Eurasia!Millions of miles away!"Zero grabbed X by the collar."What did you have to do with this,
X?What did you tell them?"

"I didn't say anything!No one said anything to me about it.This is the first I've heard of it."

Zero grabbed X by his chest armor
and throttled him."Bullshit.Don't lie to me.Would you betray me even further?You want me out of the picture.To take command for yourself?"

X locked eyes with Zero, not taking
aggressive action, since that was his nature."What is wrong with you?Maybe they are right in sending you there.This time here is making you stir-crazy.You need to get away from all this, it's
killing you.You need to get a fresh
perspective."

"You need to send me out to
die, is that it?Christ, X, just pull
the plug on me now."

"Zero, this is nothing you
can't handle."

"Oh, I can't handle it?Can I?That's not even the bleeding point!The point is, you'll be made the sole commander when I'm gone!"

"So?What's the matter with that?I had control of the Maverick Hunters while
you were missing, while you were recovering.I'm quite capable of leading them."

Zero grabbed X by his shoulder armor
and pulled him to eye level."We
were a team, X.A team.Partners, me and you.Why are you trying to destroy that?Why?"

"I don't want to destroy
it.I want to see you get better.Look at how mad you are?"

"I'm not mad, you're mad.You're walking a fine line, X.You have to be careful or you'll get
hurt."

"What are you talking
about?Now I'm glad I am taking
command."

"You'll never have it.Never.I'll make sure of it."

"Let me go, goddammit.Have you gone mental?"

"Your little incident with
attacking a fellow officer and you think the slate is wiped clean?Well, some of us don't forget so easily.You're not fit to be commander of the
Maverick Hunters."

"You're not fit to command
anything!" X retorted.

Zero dropped X's shoulders and
punched him clean across the jaw.X
collapsed under the table, flat on his stomach, eyes shut from the blast.Zero stood over him, holding his clenched
fist like a hammer of judgment.

"What have you done?"X's copper reploid friend stood from his
chair aghast.

"No one questions my
authority.X is a cheap knock-off of
what I am."

X stirred and turned on his
back.He wiped his jaw and glared at
Zero.

Zero continued, "Oh, I will
follow orders.I will do as they
say.Because that is my duty.And you will take my place, because that is
your duty.We all have something to
follow."

Zero turned on his heel and walked
out of the lounge, his blond hair swishing back and forth like a pendulum.

Today, X told me he could not believe his
eyes at Zero's outburst in the lounge.He told me Zero's programming seemed like it had been replaced, altered,
deleted even.That Zero was once a self-controlled
man.Level-headed.A leader.He asked me if he had gone mad, because there could be no other reason
that he would strike him.I told him I
could not answer, yet I did not think him mad.I told X that he would just have to watch and see.